Liberman made a series of comments last week against Abbas to
counterparts on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly suggesting that Israel
stop supporting the Fatah-dominated PA leadership.

Liberman reiterated
what he had been saying for weeks in Israel, telling the foreign ministers of a
dozen countries that as long as Abbas was chairman of the PA there was no chance
of forging an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.

While
describing Abbas as the principle obstacle to peace, Liberman also claimed the
PA president had neither Íthe interest nor the ability to properly manage the Palestinians, but instead
“travel[s] the world inciting against Israel and blaming it for all his
problems.”

The foreign minister’s most recent attack on Abbas followed
the PA president’s speech to the General Assembly, in which Abbas accused Israel
of “ethnic cleansing” and pursuing a “policy of war, occupation and settlement
colonization.”

In his denouncement of Liberman, Barak signaled his intent
to turn to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu with an urgent request to hold a
meeting on Israeli policy toward the PA. Barak believes a change in policy is
needed, in light of security and economic concerns, irrespective of Abbas’s
harsh anti-Israel rhetoric.

“Israel still has basic interests in
safeguarding security in Judea and Samaria, which is in a very good place
compared to any other time,” Barak said.

He attributed the improvement to
the IDF and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), as well as to the work
carried out by PA security forces, and the economic policies of Fayyad and
Abbas.